Office for Research on Disparities and Global Mental Health (ORDGMH)

Overview

The NIMH Office for Research on Disparities and Global Mental Health (ORDGMH) coordinates the Institute’s efforts to reduce mental health disparities both within and outside of the United States. The office’s combined focus on local and global mental health disparities reflects an understanding of how the rapid movements of populations, global economic relationships, and communication technologies have created more permeable borders and new forms of interconnectedness among nations and people. These trends both require and enable researchers to address the variations in incidence, prevalence, and course of mental disorders and access to care across diverse populations using a global perspective.

ORDGMH oversees research on global mental health, health disparities, and women’s mental health. The office works in close collaboration with NIMH’s Office of Rural Mental Health Research to address the mental health needs of people living in rural areas.

The primary functions of the office are to:

Identify trends and gaps in the areas of mental health disparities, women’s mental health, and global mental health to guide priority-setting for research funding.

Coordinate activities within NIMH and across NIH that are relevant to research on mental health disparities, women’s mental health, and global mental health.

Serve as the liaison to federal government and external stakeholders on research issues relevant to mental health disparities, women’s mental health, and global mental health.

Support the development and maintenance of a diverse, multidisciplinary mental health research workforce in the United States through mechanisms that meet the training needs of under-represented groups.

Support capacity-building, research infrastructure development, and research mentoring in order to develop a multidisciplinary mental health research workforce in low- and middle-income countries.